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David Ward-Steinman and his oratorio The Song of Moses: an appreciation and analysis

DAVID WARD-STEINMAN
AND HIS ORATORIO
THE SONG OF MOSES
AN APPRECIATION AND ANALYSIS
by
Bard-Alan Finlan
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE THORTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
(SACRED MUSIC)
May 2010
Copyright 2010 Bard-Alan Finlan

David Ward-Steinman stands out among the post World War II generation of American neoclassic composers for his unique contributions as a performer, author, lecturer, music educator, and advocate of contemporary and world music, as well as for his eclectic integration of diverse elements of influence into a voluminous catalog of compositions. In an ostensibly paradoxical way, he has bridged the conflict-laden divide between innovation and communication and has produced music that incorporates both contemporary materials and novel ideas yet has immediate accessibility and appeal. Ward-Steinman has been an adamant believer in an interdisciplinary approach to the arts, and often appears as a lecturer at universities, concert halls, and museums speaking on the topic of analogs in music, painting, sculpture, and literature. A tireless promoter of music education, he encourages his listeners to have an active disposition to seeking out new venues of expression. Ward-Steinman prefers the actual craft of composition to its abstract concept, however, and he has produced an impressive oeuvre that includes compositions in every conceivable genre.; In this paper, I will discuss the musical, cultural, religious, social, and personal influences on David Ward-Steinman’s artistic and intellectual development, the philosophy that has shaped his approach to composition, and the elements of continuity in his overall style. I will take special note of the music leading up to the writing of his oratorio, The Song of Moses—a seventy-minute work for narrator, soloists, chorus, and orchestra, which he has come to regard as a summing up of everything he had to say in music until his style took a turn toward the heterogeneous shortly after its composition. I will conclude this paper with a detailed analysis of the textual and musical features of this noble and impressive work.; Chapter One of this paper features a brief biography of David Ward-Steinman that highlights his achievements as a composer, performer, and educator. Chapter Two outlines an overview of his music and includes sections that discuss the influences of his teachers, in particular Darius Milhaud and Nadia Boulanger; the music of composers such as Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartók, Hindemith, Piston, and Copland; and his early roots as a jazz improviser. Four elements of continuity, being spontaneity and variation, cluster harmony, expanded instrumental sounds, and non-Western music, feature in a discussion of his music of recent years. Chapter Three opens with a study of the historical background of The Song of Moses and closes with an analysis of its text as well as a theological investigation into the meaning of the life and death of its protagonist that contextualizes the oratorio’s composition within the cultural climate of the turbulent 1960s. The paper continues with Chapters Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight that, respectively, present a detailed analysis of the five major parts of the oratorio: Prologue, The Call, Battle and Triumph, The Heresy, and The Death of Moses. Appendices to the paper include a copy of the oratorio’s libretto, a comparison of the libretto with passages from the King James Bible on which it is based, and a comparison of the original version of the oratorio with its revised version. In addition, a chronological listing of the composer’s most important works is included within the Appendices.

DAVID WARD-STEINMAN
AND HIS ORATORIO
THE SONG OF MOSES
AN APPRECIATION AND ANALYSIS
by
Bard-Alan Finlan
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE THORTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
(SACRED MUSIC)
May 2010
Copyright 2010 Bard-Alan Finlan